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    isa favourite ' writer for the young , and has contributed a little library of pleasant and profitable books to parlour literature . The Story of My Girlhood has our cordial recommendation . —The Recollections of Mrs . Hester Taffetas ( Knight and Son ) profess to be -written by a Court Milliner and Modiste during the Keign of King George III . and his Consort Queen Charlotte , and edited by her granddaughter . They are anecdotes worked up into stories , ¦ with an affectation of genuineness—and are of several varieties , food , bad , and indifferent , dull , tame , extravagant ., and interesting . The est are ¦ ' Th . e Porcelain Mania , ' The Highwayman's Bridal , ' and 'The Lady ' s Revenge . Occasionally Mrs . Hester Taffetas writes in a style which her ' granddaughter' might have judiciously moderated , if only for the sake of good manners . Paul Heyse ' s Four Phases of Zoue have been translated by E . H . Kingsley , and . are published in a neat little volume . ( Routledge and Co ~) . —The tales have an impress of originality , and are agreeably moralized . Two of the titles are eccentric : — 'Eye-Blindness and Soul-Blindness , ' aad 'By the Banks of the Tiber . ' The varieties of passion are forcibly suggested .

    The interest excited by the events in China will attract attention to a really meritorious book by Mr . William Dalton—1 ' yfe Wolf-boy of China ; or , The Incidents and Adventures of Lya JPayo . ( Bath : Binns and Goodwin . ) The writer ' s object has been to illustrate the manners of the Chinese , as well as their modes of thinking , and his success in performing a difficult task has been considerable . The volume , of course , is addressed to the young , and ifc is admirably adapted to fix in their minds a notion of the differences between European and Asiatic civilization , especially that quaint , formalistic , pretentious civilization , which has been -the growth of so many centuries in China . The hero of the story , which abounds in incident , is a boy , the son of an English father and a Chinese mother , and his adventures are of such a nature as to enable Mr . Dalton to pass in review almost every aspect of Celestial society . We might object that the result is too

    favourable to the Chinese—a gross , vain , cruel , unprogressive nation of charlatans —but The Wolf-boy has not been written in support of any theory . It is purely , simply , and successfully a book prepared to please the young , and open a primrose path to an elementary knowledge of China . Merits rare in kind , if not in degree , characterize Sivan the Sleeper : a Tale of all Time . By the Rev . H . C . Adams . ( Rivingtons . ) Original in design , it is forcible and picturesque in style , and marked by a refinement of taste and a superiority of tone seldom to be met with amidst the multifarious romances of the day . Notable through these distinctions beyond the ordinary mass of fiction , it is so in another sense , because stamped by the peculiarity of its construction , its teachings , and essential features , as an acceptable addition to the especial department of imaginative literature , adorned by the genius of Moore , Samuel Johnson , and Sir Charles Morrell .

    In Sivan and in ' Passelas' the moral is similar—the pursuit of an ideal happiness ; but affinity ceases in the diversity of experience through which attainment of the object is sought . Mr . Adams employs the supernatural element as the basis of his plan . This fanciful method he has been necessitated to adopt in order to maintain an identity of personal interest with the changing scenes of the pagan , the early Christian , and the mediaeval periods , in all of which Sivan , the hero pilgrim , is a participator under different conditions of circumstance and vocation . But , whether as the aged Elamite , the companion of Grecian sages , the priest of the Sanhedrim , or the friend of Savonarola , he is haunted by . 1 desire for the triumphant sway of truth and justice on the earth—by visions of the Unattainable . Through this medium of action we are presented with a series of vivid sketches descriptive of the various nations—Egypt , Greece , Italy—whose superior civilization has illumined history . It is difficult , when the imagination is warmed into realization of remote epochs , to describe with fervour

    yet with faith—a difficulty which Mr . Adams has , however , overcome , with the still greater one of uniting in familiar dialogue , under contrasted social phases , digmity and ease . The production of Sivan , curious and interesting as the volume is , cannot fail to do honour to Mr . Adams ' s name—one , we believe , somewhat exclusively known in connexion with the successful authorship of religious allegories . Emmeline Lutimer . A Novel . In 3 vols . By Sarah Syraonds . ( Newby . ) —We imagine Emmeline Latimer to be a maiden publication , and as such may bestow upon it a word of praise . Miss Symonds writes from feeling , and conjures up a romance of the passions , with violent scenes and situations , and often a tragic dialogue . The general tone is melancholy , and the fruit of life to the ethereal Emmeline is ' sorrow , sorrow , ' crowned by a climax of joy . Miss Symonds , we hope , if she intends to become a novelist , will not adopt the habit of making her heroine fade sweetly and gradually away . She is too free , moreover , in the use of pistols and poison .

    Labour and Live . A Story . By the Author of 'Blenhain . ' ( Freeman . )—We find in Labour and Live the merits which characterized ' Blenhain , but in a more developed form . The subject is more skilfully treated ; the moral idea , whilo distinctly kept in view , never interferes with the rapid plan of incident ; the character-painting ia firm and truthful . Upon the whole , Labour and Live is a successful story of its class . In our batch of novels wesmust include a reprint of Horace Smith ' s wellknown Walter Colyton : a Talc of 1 GS 8 . ( Knight and Son . )—It is well printed and got up , and remarkably cheap .

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    Agrippina won Claudius by u recei pt for dressing Snanish onion * * n <* * u \ in all ages mankind have been larg&y influenced *^^^ nTTd ^ di ^* and yet we prepare and consume our food unintelligently and s ^ idS Our national cuisine , with its sacramental formula of ' steaks and c& and its eternal roast and boiled is scarcely one remove from cannibaE We eat when we should dme . We allow our national character to be £ " pered with by vile pretenders , whose made dishes are combinations of . S i and ^ sodden meat , whose roasts are raw whose soups are archi pelagoes " of toast in oceans of water . lhree spoonfuls of soup and three spoonfuls of sherry , " said the lawgiver of a kitchen , are essential as the foundation of ^ dinner ; more or less spoi s the appetite . But with how many thousands of men , otherwise rational , beef and mutton junks form the staple wnirv vegetables the concomitants , and beer the dilution ! What is it to themtl t-Bordeaux and Burgundy and Sauterne are yielded by southern m-es < L ? The Excise protects the malt-grower , and we sneer at the drinkers ofrla vinegar . But what of the poor ? Is machinery of more importance to them than intelligent cookery , which economizes the materials of their food and which renders the plainest substances cheaply enjoyable ? It is because M . Soyer offers admirable instructions to persons of the smallest means that we regard him as a social benefactor ; he teaches the cottager how to sub sist , without increased expenditure , upon savoury dishes , and he comes also to the rescue of the indigestive savages who search London at night ' for

    a supper , ^ nop , itiuney , lobster—lobster , chop , kidney—are the alpha and the omega of the Briiish tavern . Here are a hundred receipts for supper e'elicacies , easily prepared , and in general far from costl y . If there be no reform , it will become a stern necessity to hang an hotel-keeper . A vul <» ar cook is among the worst of criminals . He traduces nature . He abuses the gifts of the earth . He is a slow poisoner . He insults the human vitals And yet his art is not involved in mysteries . We don't ask him to study how , when a joint is roasted , coagulation of the albumen takes place , the cellulose tissue is converted into gelatine , the fibrin and albumen are oxydized , and most of the empyreumatic oils and products of dry distillation carried off . ^ M . Soyer talks of a good cook as necessarily a chemist , but he himself avoids all such a ~ bstruse investigations . How stewed and baked

    meats retain a variety ol educts inimical to the stomach ' s peace , how rapid boiling hardens a joint , and how warmed-up dishes threaten indigestion , are , however , points of knowledge indispensable to a decent denizen of a kitchen ' . What is short pie-crust , and what is puff ? We are afraid the question might go far in search of an answer . At all events , M . Soyer is doing his best , and this volume , with its Pelissier-like portrait of the author , will tend to propagate , far and wide , the principles of one of the noblest of sciences . It contains a narrative of M . Soyer ' s expedition to Scutari and the Crimea , his intercourse with Miss Nightingale and the Allied generals—in fact , of all his adventures and observations at the seat of Avar . The book is brimful of

    gossip , and is exactly such as will beguile a sea-side evening . M . Soyer is a vain man , and proud even of his vanity ; he is obsequious in his compliments to duchesses ; he reports all his dialogues with great people in a style the most amusingly ostentatious ; yet mixed up with his eccentricity there is an infusion of sound common sense , while the whole fabric rests upon a golden foundation—an inimitable proficiency in the science of cookery . Observe how inventive is the genius of the man who , entering the coffeeroom of the Albion , and . being disgusted with the brutal uniformity of broiled bones and mutton chops , improvises a creation like this : — Rump-steak and fried potatoes ; ditto with shalot , pimento , and anchovy batter . Relishing steak , fillet of beef , a , la Parisienne ; ditto a la Chateaubriand . Mutton chops & la bouchere ; ditto semi-provencale ; ditto Marseilles fashion ; ditto with relishing sauce .

    Plain cutlets with fried potatoes , a la maitre d'hotel , a la Sultana , semi-provencale . Larnb chops , a la boulangisre , a l'Arae ' ricaine , 11 la printanicre . Pork chops with pimento butter , a . la Tartaro ; ditto camp fashion . Veal cutlets en papillote ; with maitre d'hotel butter ; with relishing butter ; with fried potatoes . Kidneys on toast , semi-curried ; ditto with sherry or port ; ditto with champagne . For kidaeys a la niaitre d'h 6 t « l , a la brochette , and a la Robert Diavolo , see Receipts , page 10 . Stewed and curried tripe ; ditto Lyonnaise fashion .

    Lobsters au gratin in the shell ; scalloped ditto ; curried on toast ; lobster cutlets ; new salad , Tartar fashion ; plain salad -with , anchovies ; crabs au gratin in the shell ; crab salad with eggs . * Grilled chicken and Sultana sauco ; a la Robert Diavolo , with relishing sauce ; new broiled devil , Mayonnaise sauce ; chicken , American fashion . Stewed oysters on toast ; ditto American fashion , au gratin ; fried oysters . Omelettes with fine herbs , mushrooms , sprue grass ham , and parmesan ; poached eggs with cream ; ditto witli maitre d'hotel sauce ; Semi-curried , with ham or bacon . Buttered eggs with mushrooms , sprue grass , ham . with shalots , parsley , and chervil . Mirrored egga with tongue , ham , or bacon ; curried eggs ; ditto with onion sauce and tomato sauce .

    SOYER'S CULINARY CAMPAIGN . Soyer's Culinary Campaign . Being Historical Reminiscences of tho Late " War with the Plain Art of Cookery . By Alexis Soyor . Iioutledgo and Co . Tub kitchen is , seriously , one of the most important of human institutions . Not that wo echo Quin , who said that the ouly marriugo lie cared about was that between John Dory and Aim Chovy ; but that we fool for Andrew Marvcll when he sighed if the shoulder of mutton was ill roasted . We in England are snd barbarians in cookery . We know that Cleopatra owed her empire over Cocsar us much to her suppers aa her beauty , that the reign of Louis XIV . was prolonged because Madame do Miiintenon invented tlio immortal cutlets which bear her name , that Cardinal Wolscy was conciliated by tho good dishes on tlio Field of tho Cloth of Gold , that

    Rarebit a la Soyer with sherry or champagne . Fried potatoes in slices ; ditto with mattro d'hotel butter ; ditto with Cayenne popper . Cold asparagus salad , while in season ; now potato salad , German fashion ; ditto , French and haricot beans . To the admirable ' London Dinner * —a discovery—should bo added a ' London Supper' upon M . Soyer ' s plan , and we promise the promoters the grateful patronage of all who evei" seek the stars from Flect-struot or the Strand . Wo will give one or two examples of M . Soyer ' s achievements in the East . After the announcement of tho Paris treaty he prepared a Maccdoinc Liidcraienne n I Alexandra II . This is composed of : —

    12 boxes of preserved lobsters , 2 cases of preserved lamprcyH , 2 cases of preserved sardines , 2 bottles of prcHCived anchovies , 1 case of preserved caviar , 1 ca . su of preserved sturgeon , 1 case of preserved thunny , 2 cases of preserved oysters , 1 pound ol fresli pruwuii , 4 pounds of turbot cloutd , 12 Russian pickled cucumbers , -1 bottles of pickled olives , I bottle of mixed piokUw , 1 bottle of Indian ditto , 1 bottle of pickled French beans , 2 bottles of pickled mushrooms , . V boLtlu of pickled mangoes , ' 2 bottle * of pickled French truffles , * 2 cases of [> r < iaerved poaa , 2 caaea of preserved mixed vegotnblca , 4 dozen cabbage lettuces , 100 egga , 2 bottles of preserved cockscombs . The sauco was composed of G bottlm of salad oil . 1 of tarragon vinegar , half a

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    884 ' THE lEADEIL [ Ko . 390 , Semembbb 12 . 18 R 7

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 12, 1857, page 884, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2209/page/20/